No assembly RequireD

As a millennial there is something both exciting and horrifying of seeing my childhood years become period pieces in film. Not so much nineties films, but rather modern films focused on the nineties making it a time capsule. What is even more bizarre is that those films are slowly becoming a staple in film so it was only a matter of time where the 2000’s (where most of my teen years were spent) became a time capsule film in itself. Sure there have been many post 2001 films, but mainly focused on the current situation of the war and how the attacks on 9/11 shaped both our country both metaphorically and physically. Sometimes it worked and mostly always focused on adult lives. It took Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” or Ramy Youssef’s Hulu show “Ramy” to finally take on what life was like for teenagers coming up in a time of confusion and fear and the real birth of social media. Sean Wang’s Sundance breakout DÌDI is both universal and specific to its core. A story of a thirteen year old Taiwanese boy in the summer before high school, Wang focuses on being multicultural, generational differences, the fear of answering a girl on AIM, chaotic DIY YouTube videos, and the need to be loved by everyone all to the tune of some Motion City Soundtrack. It’s a welcomed directorial debut from a rising star who at the time this review comes out will have already been nominated for Best Documentary Short with his film “Nai Nai & Wai Po.” DÌDI is not just Mid2000’s, and while it wears some of its influence it is far too compassionate to its wider cast and gracious in finding a way to love itself. If nothing else it is exactly what growing up truly is all about.

Chris (Izaac Wang) enjoys being reckless. Sometimes it involves running away after blowing up a local mailbox, (and filming it) and other times its cursing his sister at the dinner table followed by peeing into her lotion container. But for someone who seems to have quite the confidence for a thirteen year old all this stops short when it comes to Chris making new friends while trying appear tough and cool to the one’s he has. With his father working back in Tawain, the family is led by his mother (Joan Chen) who tries to keep the between Chris and his sister Vivian (Shirley Chen) all while being berated herself by her mother-in-law (Chang Li Hua) for not being the wife and mother she expects for her son and grandchildren. All this frustration is easy for Chris to ignore, he like most teenage boys is in his own world. Sean Wang has created such an authentic reminder of what was like to be a boy growing up during this time that it may be close to being a horror story. Watching Chris try to connect with his crush by stalking her MySpace, learning that she likes Paramore only to wear the band’s shirt just to impress her will have any now thirty year old sinking into their seats as they watch. But this was boyhood (and girlhood) not just this time of wanting to be “like like” by our crush but just to be accepted by anyone for it seemed no matter how cool our shoes were or if we listened to the right music we will still falling behind. Wang gets that and fully implements it into every trial and tribulation Chris faces.

DÌDI may be a film fully empathetic to the hardships of adolescents but unlike most current coming of age films (Lady Bird innocent) it is still indebted to a future of feeling like we owed everyone an apology. Chris is mean, plain and simple, he’s pretty fucking cruel actually. But who wasn’t at that age? The film and Wang’s script never lets Chris off the hook to the audience but there is that constant reminder that unfortunately even his mother recognizes that he is quite lost. He misses his father, but never says it. He loves his sister and is scared she is leaving for college but instead of giving a hug he responds with calling her a whore. But the film doesn’t make Chris the most insufferable character, far from it it just puts him at a distance from where many of the other characters seem to be, even though we know any film focused on a side character would show us they are just as lost as him. Thankfully Chris does find skillsets in some areas that are removed from just trying to talk to girls. In a turn that involves Chris making friends with local skaters, Chris gets to expand his very mediocre filmmaking skills that feel as early as Spike Jonze skate days that even predated his Beastie Boys era, (one of the characters even playfully mocks Chris for trying to be Spike Jonze when Chris wants to make every shot different and peculiar). But as exciting as it is to see this portion of the film and to see Chris run with an older crowd there is this wonderful yet painful reminder of how much Chris has to learn. He constantly tries to keep up as he attends a high school crowd party, and even when his new older friends meet his mom with such excitement it is met with disgust when seeing how rude Chris can be to his mom (one of the film’s best moments). In a Q&A following the film’s Sundance premiere Wang stated how he wanted to make this film as an apology to his mother. And while one can almost be sure that his mother holds no resentment there is still such a pain in Joan Chen’s motherly performance that is filled with both regret and undying love for her children. When DÌDI starts to reach its emotional conclusion you will practically want to call your mom on the phone and apologize but lets be honest none of us ever will because there’s still a little Chris in all of us. Sometimes art is the only way we truly can when words seem to be far too difficult.

DÌDI is just that kind of film. It knows saying all the words and feelings out loud is far too hard. It may not focuses on the notion of male insecurity when it comes to apologizing directly but scenes involving Chris and his friends giving each other a simple head nod instead of an apology speak volumes. Chris is entering high school after all and all of us know these friendships and relationship won’t last long, hell many of them won’t even last past third period. But Wang is certain that family is forever regardless of where you stand with them at the moment. Sometimes (actually all the time) we wish our friendships lasted the same way family members do, but perhaps that is why mine and Sean’s generation is so obsessed with constant status changes on Facebook, Myspace or whatever the hell we use today. Its that idea we learned young that nothing lasts in the world outside our home (and even in our homes) so if try to take control of it being at the root of the change before it occurs or to appear like such a change was our idea. Chris has a long high school road ahead of him and being in charge and learning to accept himself is going to take quite the time, but much like the Motion City Soundtrack songs both used in the film and those that live through it, the best thing for Chris and all of our teenage selves to do is to commit this to memory; everything is alright.

A

DÌDI PREMIERED AT THE 2024 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. IT IS CURRENTLY SEEKING U.S. DISTRIBUTION